


Favoritism

by ideallyqualia



Series: UshiOi [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Birds, Canon Universe, M/M, Magical Realism, Pre-Relationship, Shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-10 06:54:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4381742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ideallyqualia/pseuds/ideallyqualia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oikawa found an eagle in his backyard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Favoritism

**Author's Note:**

> happy bday ash! and also oikawa. you both deserve unlimited amounts of ushioi.
> 
> ushijima is a white-tailed eagle here. i want to specify since otherwise, people would assume he's a bald eagle. i picked a Japanese-native species for ushi he deserves the best.
> 
> Part of me wanted to use the "crack taken seriously" tag, but...

Oikawa's hand remained on the volleyball, face in a pale grimace at the sight of an eagle on the grass. He just walked outside, wanting to practice by himself in his yard, and there it was. Oikawa wanted to gag at the dead rat it was tearing its beak through. He didn't remember seeing any rats in his neighborhood.  

But then the eagle lifted its head, looking directly at Oikawa with a blank stare, and Oikawa saw blood on the sides of its beak. Oikawa choked down a small cough and fumbled with the volleyball in his hands. Oikawa wasn't afraid of dogs, but a wild animal with a sharp beak, already in the middle of eating--he couldn't deny the bump of fear in his heartbeat.

The eagle ignored him and kept eating. Oikawa heard the noises of it ripping through its meal, and it sounded occupied enough to not care about him. Oikawa took slow steps towards his door, eyeing it warily as it shuffled its feet to tug on a piece. Ever since it noticed Oikawa, it kept giving blank looks towards him, but Oikawa didn't know what to make of it.

Halfway to the door, the eagle unfolded its wings and flapped them. Oikawa didn't understand what it was doing, but on instinct he flinched and threw the volleyball in its direction. He didn't bother seeing how it reacted or if the ball even hit it, and he took off running towards the door, wrenching the doorknob open and slamming it closed.

Oikawa rested against the inside of his door and breathed. After a few minutes, he walked to his room to do homework, and he assumed that it left. He forgot about it until the next day, when he stepped into his backyard and found the same bird on the grass. Oikawa jolted and almost tripped.

Oikawa went back inside and fitted the window with his head to watch. The eagle wasn't eating, just walking around on the ground, its tail twitching and feathers ruffling with the wind. It didn't seem to be hunting for food, eyes and feet aimless in wandering around. Oikawa ducked down when it turned and saw him.

It remained in his yard for half an hour, eventually relocating to a low tree branch and zipping its beak through its feathers. Oikawa saw it rest its beak in different places on its wing, tilting its head and reconsidering whatever it was doing, wind hitting its face at an angle that streamlined the feathers there. It was hard to imagine that it was dangerous, but Oikawa wasn't going to forget.

Oikawa's phone rang, and he picked it up to see Iwaizumi's name flash across the screen. 

"Oikawa, aren't we going to work on homework today?"

Oikawa leaned his head into the phone. "There's an eagle outside."

"So?"

"It won't leave me alone." 

"Stop whispering, I can't hear you."

Oikawa slumped. "Stop making fun of me! There's an actual bird outside, and it won't leave."

"Why is this a problem?"

"Because, Iwa-chan, it's dangerous. What if it bites me?"

"Just don't make it mad."

Oikawa pinched his lips together. "I threw a volleyball at it yesterday," he said after a moment.

"You're an idiot."

"Iwa-chan! Help me."

Iwaizumi was quiet, and Oikawa hoped he was actually giving it some thought.

"I don't know. Give it some food to get it to like you?"

"That's a horrible idea. What if food makes it want to stay?"

Oikawa tried it anyway. He didn't tell Iwaizumi that he was using his idea, but there wasn't anything else Oikawa wanted to try. He collected a few pieces of chicken from his fridge and threw it out the door as soon as he opened it. He slammed the door closed right after he tossed the chicken, and through the window he saw the eagle perk up. It took a few hops to get to his door, and Oikawa saw it dip its head down, inspecting it with a few glances before diving in. It tore through with the same enthusiasm as yesterday, and Oikawa was grateful that there wasn't any blood this time.

To his relief, it did take off. Oikawa sighed and finally opened the door, checking to make sure it was gone. He saw it flying in the distance, and Oikawa felt safe enough to go outside to Iwaizumi's house.

 

* * *

 

A couple days passed, and the bird slipped Oikawa's mind. He thought it wasn't going to return, but he saw a familiar pair of eyes in the tree in front of his house, and he dropped his backpack and ran inside. 

Oikawa lifted his head to see if it was still there, and he found it sitting in the tree where he last saw it a few seconds ago, jostling its wings and turning its beak in the air. It looked like it was enjoying the breeze, but Oikawa couldn't tell from its sharp black eyes.

It stayed put for a long time. Oikawa hated being stuck in the house without his backpack, so he decided to retrieve another piece of meat. He stepped outside and closed the door softly and slowly, the doorknob twisted for it to click as quietly as possible. Oikawa wanted to tiptoe a little bit away before throwing food again, but after he made some distance away from the door the bird shifted to jump up, wings surging into flight. Oikawa's hands fiddled with the chicken in surprise, and he dropped it. The food fell to the grass with small thuds.

The eagle landed right in front of Oikawa, but it directed its attention away to the chicken on the floor. It snapped its beak and chewed, shaking its head side to side to tear off a piece. It ended up using its talons to pin it to the floor for leverage.

Oikawa grabbed his backpack and backed away. The eagle was busy, so there wasn't a problem with it flaring in temper and attacking him, but Oikawa didn't want to take his chances.

A little while after he made it inside, he heard something tap on his window. Oikawa sat up from his seat at the table to check, and he found the same bird clicking its beak on the glass, head stretched to tap it as high as it could while standing on its feet.

Oikawa felt safe enough to not care about irritating it. He made a shooing motion with his hand.

"Go away."

Instead of backing away, it cocked its head. Oikawa pressed his mouth in a line at its calm demeanor, its eyes regarding Oikawa with silent interest. Its eyes stared at him openly, head tilting further, and Oikawa realized that it was trying to look past him. Oikawa was in the kitchen, but he didn't think the eagle could understand that this was where he kept his food.

The eagle tapped its beak again after a few more beats of silence. Every time, after a couple taps, it lowered its beak and huddled back down, looking at him with what he almost thought was politeness. It waited for Oikawa to respond to whatever it was doing, settling its wings and returning his confused stare with a steady one. A couple seconds later, it shuffled back and tapped on the glass again.

"Feh! I don't know why I take Iwa's advice." A clipped sound left his throat as he stood up, and at his movement, the bird lifted its head and quietly brightened.

Oikawa paused to grimace at it. He bet it was hungry. Feeding it had been a huge mistake. He didn't want to continue sitting there with it looking at him though, disturbing the silence with its tapping and clicking. Its eyes were a little eerie when it kept staring at him, following his movements with a high level of attention.

He walked to the fridge and sighed as he opened the door. He bent at the waist to glance over the contents, his hand lying lazily on the fridge handle. The eagle seemed content to receive the chicken before, and Oikawa had no idea what eagles ate, so he decided to give it the same food. He pulled out a few small pieces and closed the fridge. 

Oikawa looked at the meat in his hand. He didn't have that much for it right now, and the past few times he fed it he didn't give it a lot either. He didn't know how much an eagle was supposed to eat. Feeding it small amounts sounded like a good idea, at least.

At the sight, it flicked its wings and sat down, crouched to the window sill expectantly. It looked like a predatory gesture, as if it was about to jump up and attack for food. That made Oikawa frown and reconsider opening the window. After a minute, it glanced up at him, its eyes piercing and fixing on the food. 

Oikawa placed the chicken strips on his side of the window, extending his hand to keep his distance despite the glass buffer. He edged it against the glass, and he lifted the window, just enough for it to lower its beak sideways and reach for its chicken. The tip of its beak caught on a piece, and it dragged it out, lifting it up to let gravity give it a better place to grip and chew. 

Oikawa leaned back onto the kitchen table, his hands on the ledge to balance his weight. He watched it pick at the other pieces and decide which to eat next, its mouth open in what Oikawa guessed was a happy expression. Once it finished its meal, it scooted back, its talons curling on the sill.  

Oikawa stepped forward to lean down, setting his eyes level with the eagle's. "Stop coming here. You're not wanted."

He reached up and tugged the window down with a heave. A dull thud resounded through the room, and the eagle gave a small blink after the sound. It still didn't move.

Oikawa stood back up and closed the blinds.

  

* * *

 

He didn't expect the bird to listen. It seemed smart, but finding a bird that knew and understood Japanese sounded like a stretch. It kept coming back, sometimes perching on his window sill and leaning its head forward to quietly ask for food, and sometimes sitting in a tree in his yard. Aside from their first meeting, it didn't catch any wild animals in the area. Oikawa didn't know if this was a sign that it no longer needed to hunt, or that it just caught them elsewhere.

When it sat in the tree, it continued to watch Oikawa as he practiced. It hunched down on the branch it perched on and preened itself, glancing up once in a while to check on Oikawa. Oikawa couldn't get over its dark eyes, but it didn't let him dodge or hide, so Oikawa tried to ignore it.

One morning, Oikawa opened the door, expecting to find it outside in its tree, but when he took a step his foot fell on a small lump. He lifted his foot to look, and his mouth immediately twisted. It was a dead squirrel, slightly bloodied from a kill.

"God." Oikawa's hand came to his mouth.

Oikawa's eyes flitted up to have something else to ensnare in his memory, and he saw it then. The eagle was up in a tree, its neck stretched out, attention rapt on Oikawa in the entrance.

Oikawa's jaw went slack. He was not amused. It made no sense that it would ask to be fed, and then go find extra food and dump it on his doorstep. 

Oikawa retreated and slammed his door closed.

 

* * *

   

Over the next few days, the eagle kept leaving dead animals on his front step. Oikawa always found the eagle waiting in the tree, eyes fixed on the door to watch Oikawa walk out and find the prey. The way its head rose, eyes turning lighter and beak twisting in the air, made Oikawa suspect that it was trying to gauge his reaction to the freshly killed meals. Oikawa never picked them up; he closed the door and came back later to find them gone, along with the eagle. 

The more time passed, the bolder its approach became. Oikawa eventually found it sitting on his step one morning beside its dead trophy, and at Oikawa's appearance, it dipped its head and nudged the mouse closer to his feet. It raised its head, eyes glinting with pride. Oikawa maintained his deadpan gaze, and the eagle repeated its action, looking back up at him and sitting down. Its eyes flitted between its catch and Oikawa, its head shifting a little in a small motion to point with its beak. 

Its head gestures and purposeful glances made Oikawa snort. It looked ridiculous, and when Oikawa thought if over to himself, it sounded even worse. This wild animal he didn't know was bringing him food and extorting him for more, and its current head bobs were a complete contrast to its serious eyes, its sleek feathers on its head, and sharp talons and beak. 

Oikawa squeezed his lips together, his cheek puffing slightly to stifle a laugh.

"What do you even want?"

The eagle kept staring at him. The angle of its head to meet his eyes was almost cute, except that didn't match the rest of its body. It blinked, and its head turned to the side to look at the door behind Oikawa. 

"You're not coming inside." 

Oikawa stepped back inside and closed the door. He didn't slam it this time.

 

* * *

 

Oikawa was getting tired of cleaning his doorstep of anything the eagle left behind. The dead gifts were bizarre and unsettling enough to make Oikawa laugh almost every time, but it still made no sense to him. Especially when the eagle kept coming to his kitchen window for meat scraps.

During one visit, Oikawa opened the window too much, enough for the eagle to poke its head through and crane its neck up, peering at him and his hand. Oikawa forgot to react, but thankfully he wasn't bitten, the eagle just pushed its beak into his hand to eat directly from him. A strangled noise came out of Oikawa's nose, and he felt as its feathers rustled against his palm, beak rummaging into his skin and picking up pieces to eat. After it finished, it obediently retreated, and it straightened to give Oikawa a nod and then it flapped its wings and flew away. 

Oikawa came to trust that it wouldn't do anything to hurt him now, and he sometimes left the window completely open. Like Oikawa was beginning to see, it was remarkably polite, despite asking for food in the first place. It shuffled around in the window sill and only breached it when Oikawa told him it could enter, which it complied with slowly. It took the time to glance around every time, ducking under the window and crouching along the kitchen counter. It also picked up stray feathers and collected them in a pile instead of leaving them scattered everywhere, although Oikawa couldn't tell if it intended for Oikawa to throw them out or it was just a weird bird habit. 

"Here." Oikawa pushed a plate at it. The feeling of having it eat out of his hand was alien and prickling, so he made it eat from a plate instead.

It carefully stepped toward the plate. It was a quiet eater, and despite the usual blood associated with its freshly caught meals it wasn't messy either, unlike the pet store birds Oikawa saw spilling seed everywhere.

Today Oikawa had his laptop out on the kitchen table, powered on and screen lit to illuminate his homework for school. Oikawa wasn't sitting in front of it, he was leaning against the counter watching the eagle, so he wasn't prepared for the sudden beating of wings in the air that overtook the silent room. Oikawa ducked and threw his arms over his head.

The eagle landed on the table, lurching to maintain balance and not fall off. Its talons clicked as it headed to his laptop, and Oikawa was too curious to stop it.

It paused in front of the keyboard, its head reaching a thoughtful tilt as its eyes surveyed the keys. It bowed its head to them, and Oikawa covered his mouth when its beak hit a button. After a couple key presses, it straightened and looked at Oikawa. 

Oikawa walked over to check what it typed.

"Thank you."

Oikawa's mouth twisted. "You can type?"

It reached for the keyboard again, bumping its beak into the keys at a faster pace. It deleted what it typed and pressed more keys.

Oikawa bent to read the new message.

"Shiratorizawa."

Oikawa grabbed the edges of the table. "What?"

Instead of typing out its reply to that, it flapped and took off through the window. Oikawa scowled and leaned out the window to glare at it.

 

* * *

 

Oikawa drummed his fingers on the table. Shiratorizawa. That was a random useless message, and Oikawa hated it. It didn't tell him anything. The fact that it could type was a marvel, but that of all things wasn't something to celebrate. This bird was clearly intelligent, and if it knew anything about Oikawa, then it was mocking him. Oikawa didn't know why, though.

Oikawa picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"What is it?" Iwaizumi asked.

"Iwa, I'm being harassed."  

A rush of air filtered through the speaker. "Ugh. Oikawa, I'm tired."

"Just listen! An eagle typed 'Shiratorizawa' on my computer. What do you think that means?"

Silence.

"Iwa?" Oikawa asked.

"Is this a joke? What the hell does that even mean?"

"It's not a joke! It happened!" Oikawa shifted in his chair and turned to look out the window. The eagle wasn't outside in the tree. It didn't spend too much time with Oikawa actually, only sometimes, and especially on the weekends. It was habitual in its visits, coming after school finished for the day and leaving before Oikawa left for practice.

Definitely intelligent, if it had a schedule to stick to.

"Call me back when you have something serious to tell me."

"Wait, wait, wait, I'm telling the truth! An eagle flew through the window, and--"

"Wait." Iwaizumi took in a breath. "Eagle... Do you mean, the one that was bugging you a while ago?"

Oikawa forgot he told Iwaizumi about it in the beginning. "Oh. Right. That's right."

"Oikawa. Did this bird actually..."

"Yes. It typed on my computer. With its beak!"

"That sounds. I. There's no way I believe that," Iwaizumi said.

"Iwa-chan!"

"What do you even want me to do?"

Oikawa settled at that. He grew quiet. "Why do you think the bird did that?"

"How should I know? Maybe you pissed it off. Didn't you throw a volleyball at it once?"

"That's in the past. And I didn't even hit it, I think," Oikawa said. "Forget about that. Why Shiratorizawa?"

"Maybe it's a prank? A really weird prank."

Oikawa's mouth set in a frown. "Prank?"

"Look, I know what's both on our minds," Iwaizumi said with a heavy sigh. "I don't think Ushijima has anything to do with this."

"...I wasn't even thinking about him. Thanks for bringing him up."

"I doubt you can hear 'Shiratorizawa' and not think of him."

"Your point?" Oikawa asked.

"Don't drag him in. I know you just want to pick a fight or do something else impulsive."

"I don't know why you think so little of me."

"Alright, whether or not you like him, you--"

"I think this conversation is over, Iwa-chan." Oikawa pressed his thumb on the end call button before Iwaizumi could add anything else. Iwaizumi proved once again that he had no real use for actual problems. Find an eagle? Feed the eagle. Shiratorizawa? Ushijima.

All Iwaizumi did was make Oikawa decide to visit Ushijima.

 

* * *

 

Oikawa was impulsive, but he wasn't spontaneous. He waited until he had free time on the weekend to go, and he chose a time when Iwaizumi was busy and had no interest in being with Oikawa. Oikawa was satisfied with going alone. 

He stepped off the bus and headed towards Shiratorizawa, walking quickly and leaning forward into his steps. He didn't want to run, although walking at this brisk pace felt ridiculous.

Oikawa lingered by the entrance, looking around and standing on his toes to see if he could find the gym or volleyball players. Oikawa was sure that they didn't practice at the same time as Seijou.

"Oikawa?"

Oikawa turned his head from where he was now leaning on the wall, and he found Ushijima standing a few feet away, facing away from the street as if he just came from there.

"...Where'd you come from?" Oikawa asked. "You know what, forget that." He dropped his foot to the floor and straightened to walk up to Ushijima. "I'm having trouble with a bird, and I'm sure you know what I'm talking about."

Ushijima returned his stare with a calm one, curiosity lighting his eyes. Oikawa was startled when he placed the same mannerisms from the eagle in him, the quiet interest and careful movements.

"Bird?"

" _Eagle_ , Ushiwaka-chan. I'm talking about an _eagle_." Oikawa took another step. "Just what are you trying to do? Make me starve?"

"Starve? You didn't seem to mind giving--"

"Unbelievable, it's true. You sent a bird after me." Oikawa let out a huff, his mouth twisting.

"I..."

"It looked like a vicious bird, too. Was it going to bite me?"

"I wouldn't bite you."

"You're not a bird," Oikawa snapped. He let his head dip to the side. "I don't think you even sent a bird. It was bizarre."

"I said thank you. Was that what you found bizarre?"

"I said..." Oikawa's mouth closed. His eyes refocused on Ushijima, eyebrows knitting alongside the renewed clarity clicking in him. "What do you mean, _you_ said thank you?" 

"I typed it out on your computer. Was I not clear?" 

"C-clear." Oikawa snorted, and he shifted on his feet as he brought his hand to his face, rubbing it over his mouth. "What are you saying?" 

Ushijima kept his gaze on him, his face at an unreadable quietness. Serious, but unreadable.

"I typed on your computer--"

"No, I mean _what are you saying?"_

There was no flicker of understanding in Ushijima's eyes, just a tightening of his lips, and Oikawa could tell Ushijima had no idea what Oikawa wanted. 

Oikawa's hand found itself in Ushijima's shirt, tugging on his collar to secure his attention. That didn't scare him, but he drew his eyes to Oikawa's face, deeper in its intensity.

"Are you trying to tell me," Oikawa said, "that _you_ typed on my computer? You stole food out of my hand and then dumped dead bodies on my lawn?"

"You didn't object."   

"I gave you food to _go away._ " Oikawa wrenched his hand free and stalked a step away, rummaging his hands through his hair and grumbling from his throat.

"That's not how you repel animals from your yard." 

Oikawa removed his hand to look at it, remembering the feeling of feathers and a beak. "You ate out of my hand. Literally. _You ate out of my hand."_ Oikawa grimaced and rubbed his hand along the side of his pants, but it didn't erase the memories. They weren't unpleasant memories, they were perfectly fine memories, and touching his feathers was sometimes nice, even, but he didn't want Ushijima to know that.

"You didn't accept the food I left on your doorstep." Ushijima's eyes narrowed at the slight offense.

"Are you listening to me?"

"Yes. You're repeating what we both know." Ushijima's head tilted, reaching an angle that was a stunning resemblance to the eagle's stares as it craned its neck, and suddenly his eyes looked sharp to Oikawa, not sharp with malevolence but with weighted thought. There was no mistake now; Ushijima was the goddamn eagle.

"So this isn't even a prank." 

"There's nothing funny about this, Oikawa."

Oikawa crossed his arms, turning his chin up. "I wanted to laugh earlier, but now I don't. None of this makes sense. Why did you even come visit me?"

"I was interested."

"In what?"

"I wanted to fly around," Ushijima said. "And you kept feeding me."

Oikawa drew his hands over his shoulders, wrangling with the strain of frustration in them. Simple answers weren't going to tell him anything. They were simple, but not direct, like Ushijima was intentionally dodging the real point.

"I'm not going to ask how or why you can turn into an eagle," Oikawa mumbled.

**Author's Note:**

> (General A/N that exists at the end of all my fics): I find unsolicited concrit really rude, I'm not looking for any. Please don't tell me someone was OOC/something happened you didn't like/it's too short/etc. in any bookmarks or comments.


End file.
